Uh hello, Bill et all, but pardon me I thought this was a thread for members and others to say what they want, not get bogged down in the same old same old.
You know what I want? Over and above all that has been said here already, I want to see an organisation that conducts itself PROFESSIONALLY. I am sorry to say that I think that some of the rhetoric I see in the AOPA Magazine does not do the organisation credit at all (and I'm not talking about the letters page). I often wonder if the reason why it doesn't seem to make any headway in Canberra is that the language used in providing "feedback and opinions from the aviation community", if it approaches anything used in the magazine, is not at all diplomatic. And maybe an acceptance that CASA aren't the evil empire, just people doing their jobs with a different perception of what is best for the aviation community (which they occasionally need to be persuaded out of - and, I might add, vice versa).
I don't like the fact that one more than one occasion in the magazine people who have views more closely aligned with the regulator are bluntly put in the category of "wrong" if the board doesn't agree with it. I think AOPA should be more accepting of the fact that they may feel that they represent the majority but that doesn't mean that the opinions of non-aligned members should be discounted or unappreciated. No organisation can afford to lose members by insulting them because of their views, because sooner or later everyone will have cause to disagree at some point or another leading to an eroding membership base... Ho hum.
I also think that AOPA as an organisation could be doing more behind the scenes to popularise aviation. I recently heard that an organisation had been formed to promote aviation by doing things like raising interest amongst businesses. For example they promote the fact that sometimes chartering an aircraft can be more cost effective than time lost waiting around for scheduled services. Great, I thought - why doesn't AOPA do this kind of thing?
Just my 2c.